Immigation Act 2014 - Section 65

Persons unable to acquire citizenship: natural father not married to mother

After section 4D of the British Nationality Act 1981 insert—

“4E The general conditions

For the purposes of sections 4F to 4I, a person (“P”) meets the general conditions if—

(a)P was born before 1 July 2006;

(b)at the time of P’s birth, P’s mother—

(i)was not married, or

(ii)was married to a person other than P’s natural father;

(c)no person is treated as the father of P under section 28 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990; and

(d)P has never been a British citizen.

4F Person unable to be registered under other provisions of this Act

(1)A person (“P”) is entitled to be registered as a British citizen on an application made under this section if—

(a)P meets the general conditions; and

(b)P would be entitled to be registered as a British citizen under—

(i)section 1(3),

(ii)section 3(2),

(iii)section 3(5),

(iv)paragraph 4 of Schedule 2, or

(v)paragraph 5 of Schedule 2,

had P’s mother been married to P’s natural father at the time of P’s birth.

(2)In
the following provisions of this section “relevant registration
provision” means the provision under which P would be entitled to be
registered as a British citizen (as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)).

(3)If
the relevant registration provision is section 3(2), a person who is
registered as a British citizen under this section is a British citizen
by descent.

(4)If
the relevant registration provision is section 3(5), the Secretary of
State may, in the special circumstances of the particular case, waive
the need for any or all of the parental consents to be given.

(5)For that purpose, the “parental consents” are—

(a)the consent of P’s natural father, and

(b)the consent of P’s mother,

insofar
as they would be required by section 3(5)(c) (as read with section
3(6)(b)), had P’s mother been married to P’s natural father at the time
of P’s birth.

4G Person unable to become citizen automatically after commencement

(1)A person (“P”) is entitled to be registered as a British citizen on an application made under this section if—

(a)P meets the general conditions; and

(b)at
any time in the period after commencement, P would have automatically
become a British citizen at birth by the operation of any provision of
this Act or the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, had P’s
mother been married to P’s natural father at the time of P’s birth.

(2)A
person who is registered as a British citizen under this section is a
British citizen by descent if the British citizenship which the person
would have acquired at birth (as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)) would
(by virtue of section 14) have been British citizenship by descent.

(3)If
P is under the age of 18, no application may be made unless the consent
of P’s natural father and mother to the registration has been signified
in the prescribed manner.

(4)But
if P’s natural father or mother has died on or before the date of the
application, the reference in subsection (3) to P’s natural father and
mother is to be read as a reference to either of them.

(5)The
Secretary of State may, in the special circumstances of a particular
case, waive the need for any or all of the consents required by
subsection (3) (as read with subsection (4)) to be given.

(6)The
reference in this section to the period after commencement does not
include the time of commencement (and, accordingly, this section does
not apply to any case in which a person was unable to become a British
citizen at commencement).

4H Citizen of UK and colonies unable to become citizen at commencement

(1)A person (“P”) is entitled to be registered as a British citizen on an application made under this section if—

(a)P meets the general conditions;

(b)P was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies immediately before commencement; and

(c)P
would have automatically become a British citizen at commencement, by
the operation of any provision of this Act, had P’s mother been married
to P’s natural father at the time of P’s birth.

(2)A
person who is registered as a British citizen under this section is a
British citizen by descent if the British citizenship which the person
would have acquired at commencement (as mentioned in subsection (1)(c))
would (by virtue of section 14) have been British citizenship by
descent.

4I Other person unable to become citizen at commencement

(1)A person (“P”) is entitled to be registered as a British citizen on an application made under this section if—

(a)P meets the general conditions;

(b)P is either—

(i)an eligible former British national, or

(ii)an eligible non-British national; and

(c)had P’s mother been married to P’s natural father at the time of P’s birth, P—

(i)would have been a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies immediately before commencement, and

(ii)would have automatically become a British citizen at commencement by the operation of any provision of this Act.

(2)P
is an “eligible former British national” if P was not a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies immediately before commencement and either—

(a)P
ceased to be a British subject or a citizen of the United Kingdom and
Colonies by virtue of the commencement of any independence legislation,
but would not have done so had P’s mother been married to P’s natural
father at the time of P’s birth, or

(b)P
was a British subject who did not automatically become a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies at commencement of the British Nationality
Act 1948 by the operation of any provision of it, but would have done so
had P’s mother been married to P’s natural father at the time of P’s
birth.

(3)P is an “eligible non-British national” if—

(a)P was never a British subject or citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies; and

(b)had
P’s mother been married to P’s natural father at the time of P’s birth,
P would have automatically become a British subject or citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies—

(i)at birth, or

(ii)by
virtue of paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the British Nationality Act 1948
(child of male British subject to become citizen of the United Kingdom
and Colonies if the father becomes such a citizen).

(4)A
person who is registered as a British citizen under this section is a
British citizen by descent if the British citizenship which the person
would have acquired at commencement (as mentioned in subsection
(1)(c)(ii)) would (by virtue of section 14) have been British
citizenship by descent.

(5)In
determining for the purposes of subsection (1)(c)(i) whether P would
have been a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies immediately
before commencement, it must be assumed that P would not have—

(a)renounced or been deprived of any notional British nationality, or

(b)lost
any notional British nationality by virtue of P acquiring the
nationality of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

(6)A “notional British nationality” is—

(a)in
a case where P is an eligible former British national, any status as a
British subject or a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies which P
would have held at any time after P’s nationality loss (had that loss
not occurred and had P’s mother had been married to P’s natural father
at the time of P’s birth);

(b)in a case where P is an eligible non-British national—

(i)P’s status as a British subject or citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies mentioned in subsection (3)(b), and

(ii)any
other status as a British subject or citizen of the United Kingdom and
Colonies which P would have held at any time afterwards (had P’s mother
been married to P’s natural father at the time of P’s birth).

(7)In this section—

“British subject” has any meaning which it had for the purposes of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914;

“independence
legislation” means an Act of Parliament or any subordinate legislation
(within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978) forming part of the
law in the United Kingdom (whenever passed or made, and whether or not
still in force)—

(a)providing for a country or territory to become independent from the United Kingdom, or

(b)dealing
with nationality, or any other ancillary matters, in connection with a
country or territory becoming independent from the United Kingdom;

“P’s nationality loss” means P’s—

(a)ceasing to be a British subject or citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (as mentioned in subsection (2)(a)), or

(b)not becoming a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (as mentioned in subsection (2)(b)).

4J Sections 4E to 4I: supplementary provision

(1)In
sections 4E to 4I and this section, a person’s “natural father” is a
person who satisfies the requirements as to proof of paternity that are
prescribed in regulations under section 50(9B).

(2)The
power under section 50(9B) to make different provision for different
circumstances includes power to make provision for the purposes of any
provision of sections 4E to 4I which is different from other provision
made under section 50(9B).

(3)The following provisions apply for the purposes of sections 4E to 4I.

(4)A
reference to a person automatically becoming a British citizen, or a
citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, is a reference to the person
becoming such a citizen without the need for—

(a)the person to be registered as such a citizen by the Secretary of State or any other minister of the Crown;

(b)the birth of the person to be registered by a diplomatic or consular representative of the United Kingdom; or

(c)the person to be naturalised as such a citizen.

(5)If
the mother of a person could not actually have been married to the
person’s natural father at the time of the person’s birth (for whatever
reason), that fact does not prevent an assumption being made that the
couple were married at the time of the birth.”